We came here to celebrate my college graduation. I looked at TripAdvisor for a Italian restaurant good for kids and for special celebrations. That lead me to Mama's. However..... obviously people reviewing here and giving 5 stars don't know about Italian culinary. The restaurant menu includes a briefing about the owner's family and history. They can indeed be Italians but they have managed to create a menu based upon what us Americans think about Italian food (pasta sauces and breads with loads of garlic on it and lasagna with ricotta cheese on it). Just take as an example Olive Garden.... and I am not comparing Mama's to Olive Garden as the food here is much better, but in terms of laying down the american vision and taste for Italian food.
If there is an authentic Italian restaurant in Charlotte that is the Luce Ristorante in Uptown and also Dolce Ristorante.
This restaurant has a decent quality of food, the service is great, but quite honestly, I have tasted better pasta than this one at Hawthorne Pizza Bar in Huntersville.
The Nutella pie that everyone claims to be "delicious" does not taste like Nutella at all. It tastes like Peanut Butter cheese cake. I even asked the server if she had made a mistake and brought the wrong dessert and she said that it was the correct one. We then said: It tastes like Peanut Butter and she replied: Really? But doesn't Nutella tastes like Peanut Butter to you??? That response made me think that clearly that the restaurant may not even know what they are cooking.